It is not difficult to become a self-taught web designer. This article covers my experience and some friends who work in the industry. There are three main ways that people get into the industry and learn.
- They are self-taught and mess around and make websites.
- They learn online from tutorials
- They read about it or do courses.
1. Learning web design and development by doing
The most common way is to try to make a website and be a self-taught designer.
Observe how other websites work
These days a lot of websites are made in HTML either totally or partially. If one wants to see the HTML View Source option on the internet browser that one is using.
Once you have it opened you can see the different pages and everything you need to know about them. Some tags can be identified straight off the bat. The commands <p>, <img> <h1,2,3> are for paragraphs, images, and headings respectively.
One simple thing one can try is to copy and paste all of the source code and save it on your laptop. When you open the file the online version and your version should look the same without any differences. If you turn off the internet and it looks different you can see why. This is a nice exercise for beginners.
Tools for web design and development that you will need no matter what
In every industry that you work in there is a core set of tools that you always need in order to get ahead.
First off you are going to need different smartphones and several different browsers in order to test your website and the features you are looking to make. Secondly, one uses a text editor. In this TextEdit, Coda and Dreamweaver for Mac users. It is important to note that Dreamweaver is not the best idea to use for the visual mode. While using Windows you can do it on Notepad. Also, a Validator is used on webpages to validate them. It is used for both HTML and CSS validators.
In Chrome one ends up using Chrome Developer Tools. If one is using Firefox then the preferred tool is Firebug. These tools let you develop a grip on things like JavaScript and CSS. It is very tough to develop a strong grip on this. It is not as easy as HTML.
Image editors are very important. The most famous editors are Fireworks and Photoshop. These tools do cost a lot of money and are often not very affordable. There are some lower cost versions as well.
Creating your own static HTML websites to learn web design and development
When one is trying to develop a grip on things like JavaScript, CSS and HTML. one needs to make websites using static HTML websites by using either a web server or locally as per your choice. You can keep on trying to rework the code and keep on coming up with new things and super nice changes. You can also take tiny pieces of code and try to use it on other places and websites.
In real life one does not always work in HTML. You might think that you do not need to do anything in HTML and you can say that it does not find use in industry. However, it is still a nice idea to try to develop a grip on this. Later on you will have to work on very complex content management systems and PHP and the like.
Creating your own websites with CMSs while learning web design
These days the bulk of websites are made through the use of CMSs, this is software that can craft pages in HTML using specialized templates. The best types are Drupal. Joomla and WordPress. These are the most well known but there are many other options too. They teach the use of PHP, others use ASP to make these websites.
Using image editors for web design and development
As a web designer and developer you need to get a grip on image editors. The most common editor that people use is Photoshop. However, it does not have to be Photoshop, it can be any other software. The reason that most people go for Photoshop is simply that there are so many different sources to learn Photoshop via Youtube or any other source. There are a lot of free resources that can be used.
Get designing to learn web design and development
The website that one makes needs to be such that the website should be optimized for Google and other search engines. The work should be validated. You need to make websites that serve an aim and need to be promoted lastly, the website has to look good and has to be attractive to anybody who searches it up on Google.
When you are trying to train your artistic eye you need to consistently make work and to improve it with every passing day. There needs to progress. One needs to not fall into complacency and not improve things. One needs to make a rough sketch or outline either on paper, in Photoshop or any other program of our choice. Practice makes one perfect. Let us continue and look at some more things.
2. Use of Online resources while learning web design
As they say some things you were not supposed to know and for everything else there’s Google. Everyone turns to search engines to find quick answers to their questions and queries all the time all over the world.
Likewise, people turn to Youtube and video services as well for more complex things, tutorials and other things. The most important learning tools are W3 Schools and Tizag. Another popular website is Lynda.com.
Learning web design and development from Blogs
One can learn web design and development by reading a lot of different blogs. The most famous and important blogs are WebDesignerDepot, 1stWebDesigner, Envato network, and last but not the least is SmashingMagazine. Most people however prefer to follow small and independent bloggers. Some of the best bloggers being.
Chris Colyer, has a very nice blog known as CSS tricks. It has a very nice and highly responsive website. It also has plenty of information and teaches one a lot of different tricks. Another blogger is Valerie Pieters, this is a great blog with illustrator tutorials and a great photoshop section. Another great blogger that I have known about for a long time is Chris Spooner. His blog is SpoonGraphics. One of my favorite bloggers is Fabio Sasso. The blog Abduzeedo is unique, quirky, highly innovative, and one of the best blogs out there. Lastly, there is Nick La and his WebDesignerWall and N. Design Studio blogs. He has a ton of great information on his blogs and is a great place to get inspiration.
Use of Forums to learn web design development
When you are struggling to learn things and nothing is working out for you then you might want to turn to forums as a means of last resort. If you post something on forums like Reddit or Quora it is possible that you will get the right answers from somebody.
3. Reads lots and lots of Books to get a grip on web design and development
The value of books is something that we often neglect in the digital age. The smartest people in the world are known to be avid readers. It is still a good idea to read and learn the old-fashioned way.
- Build Your Own Website The Right Way Using HTML & CSS 3th (third) edition this book by Ian Lloyd is a classic that one should read to get to know more about both CSS and HTM. It teaches the best practices that one wants to learn and is a classic.
- CSS: The Missing Manual by David Sawyer McFarland
This book has many explanations, tutorials and examples. It teaches users in a detailed manner. It is a must read book if you do not have a great background of CSS. In particular, it includes a lot of information on CSS3.
This list is such that it can never be truly complete as this is such a huge field and is growing day by and day and more and more literature is being written in this regard. This list that can be made in this regard is an incomplete one and there are many other books as well.
What you can do to learn web design and development
We never learn as much from our success as we do from our failures. The best teacher is experience. One needs to have a firm grip on not just the theory and academic side of things one also needs to have a solid experience of making websites.
If you are a hardworking person who is dedicated to the job you will learn from trial and error and over time you will become an expert.
